All stories by Deepak Patel
33 pilots, 97 cabin-crew members found drunk on duty in H1 of 2023: DGCA
Rediff.com7 days agoIn the first half of this year, 33 pilots and 97 cabin-crew members failed their compulsory alcohol tests, which are conducted either before or after flights, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). In contrast, in the first half of 2022, the DGCA data recorded only 14 pilots and 54 cabin-crew members being identified as intoxicated while on duty. This data has been reviewed by Business Standard. As per the DGCA rules, pilots and cabin-crew members have to undergo pre-flight breath-analyzer tests.
Why Were Flights On G20 Days Cancelled Last Minute?
Rediff.com5 Sep 2023'This kind of a last minute order creates immense problems for airlines.'
Maruti to issue preferential equity shares to Suzuki to buy Gujarat plant
Rediff.com9 Aug 2023Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) will issue equity shares on a preferential basis to parent Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) to acquire 100 per cent stake in the latter's Gujarat plant. This deal is expected to increase the share base of MSIL by about 4 per cent. And consequently, it will raise SMC's shareholding in Maruti by around 1.8 percentage point. "Whether it is in terms of PAT (profit after tax) or earnings per share (EPS) or dividend per share (DPS) of MSIL, the share-swap option will give shareholders a better deal than any other option such as cash payment," MSIL chairman RC Bhargava told reporters during a press conference.
Govt takes multiple steps to tackle festival-season rush at major airports
Rediff.com4 Aug 2023Deploying additional Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel, providing real-time updates through social media, adding more immigration counters and ensuring 100 per cent manning of immigration counters - these are some of the steps that the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) is now taking in coordination with other stakeholders to avoid congestion at major airports during the upcoming festival season. During the last year's festival and winter season, major airports in the country suffered from congestion due to lack of sufficient airport infrastructure, inadequate X-ray screening machines, bunching of flights at peak hours, as well as inadequate CISF and immigration personnel, the MoCA stated on Thursday. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, after last year's congestion issue, had asked major airports - including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai - to identify bottlenecks and augment capacity to meet the growing passenger demand.
Confused over UV definition, car companies await govt notification on cess
Rediff.com20 Jul 2023http://im.rediff.com/money/2023/jul/20uv.jpg
Does No One Want To Visit The Taj Anymore?
Rediff.com5 Jul 2023'Rather than visiting famous monuments, travellers now prefer "experiential activities" such as biking, trekking/hiking, camping, river rafting, yachting, parasailing and zip lining; safaris and jungle adventures; and wellness holidays to rejuvenate themselves.'
Is it the best time for Airbus, Boeing to plan India factories?
Rediff.com22 Jun 2023'The time is ripe' for Airbus and Boeing to look at India in terms of setting up facilities to manufacture commercial aircraft, Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday. His comments came a day after IndiGo placed the world's largest-ever single-tranche plane order with Airbus. Air India had in February placed an order for 470 aircraft - 250 with Airbus and 220 with Boeing - which would be a mix of narrow-body and wide-body planes.
How AIIMS Plans To Battle Cyberattacks
Rediff.com20 Jun 2023The second cyber attack on AIIMS took place just last fortnight, but the hospital's cyber security systems were able to successfully thwart this attempt.
With 'Invicto', Maruti set to drive into Rs 20+ lakh segment for first time
Rediff.com14 Jun 2023Maruti Suzuki is set to launch a new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) -- Invicto -- next month. It will be the company's first passenger vehicle with an ex-showroom price tag of Rs 20 lakh or more, said Shashank Srivastava, executive director (sales), on Tuesday. The upcoming MPV will compete with the likes of Toyota Innova Hycross, Kia Carnival, Hyundai Alcazar, MG Hector Plus, Tata Safari, Mahindra & Mahindra XUV700, and Mahindra & Mahindra Scorpio-N - all having three rows of seats. Invicto will be based on the Hycross by Toyota, which will manufacture Maruti's most expensive car at its Bidadi plant in Karnataka.
Air India to Spend $400 Million On...
Rediff.com12 Jun 2023... changing seats and in-flight entertainment on its older aircraft.
Auto companies post record PV sales in May
Rediff.com9 Jun 2023The previous May peak was observed in 2018 when the domestic PV wholesales stood at 301,238 units.
Quickly provide engines for grounded fleet: IndiGo to Pratt & Whitney
Rediff.com25 May 2023Low-cost carrier IndiGo has asked American aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (PW) to quickly provide engines for the airline to press its grounded planes back into service, sources said on Wednesday. The airline wants to increase its domestic frequency to fill the supply-side void created after Go First's exit, they added. Go First stopped operating flights from May 3 after filing an insolvency application with the National Company Law Tribunal.
Semiconductor chip prices are up 50%: Bajaj Auto EV head Eric Vas
Rediff.com22 May 2023The semiconductor chip supply for the electric two-wheeler industry has normalised but the prices are up by nearly 50 per cent compared to pre-pandemic period, said Eric Vas, president, Urbanite, the electric vehicle (EV) business of Bajaj Auto. "It (the supply) has improved greatly. It has pretty much normalised. The problem is the cost. "The costs remain very high. Hopefully, the costs will start correcting themselves over this fiscal year," he said in an interview with Business Standard.
Akasa Air's occupancy soars at fastest pace among peers in April
Rediff.com10 May 2023Akasa Air's plane occupancy, or load factor, improved the most among all major carriers in April compared to the last month. Load factor signifies the percentage of seats that the airline has been able to fill in its planes. The Vinay Dube-led carrier, which started commercial flights in August last year, saw its load factor jump by more than 11 per cent in April, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation's data
Cars With The Highest Waiting Period
Rediff.com9 May 2023Only five of India's top 20 car models have seen a reduction in wait times over the past year.
Don't see growth in small car segment this fiscal year: R C Bhargava
Rediff.com27 Apr 2023Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) does not anticipate growth in the small car segment because people continue to find these vehicles unaffordable, chairman R C Bhargava said on Wednesday. He said the market had clearly shifted towards the sport utility vehicle (SUV) segment and the company will go in the same direction. The domestic sales of utility vehicles jumped in India by 34.54 per cent to about 2 million units in FY23.
Pilot suspensions rose 2x in 2022 for violating safety norms: DGCA
Rediff.com19 Apr 2023The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended the licences of 92 pilots in 2022 for violating safety norms, which was more than double the 2021 figure. The number of scheduled flights (domestic and international) in India increased by 32.74 per cent to 1.3 million in 2022, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. A DGCA official stated that the minimum period of licence suspension in 2022 was one month and the maximum was three years.
Air India, SpiceJet, and Go First lost domestic market share in Q4FY23
Rediff.com19 Apr 2023Indian carriers transported 12.8 million domestic passengers in March 2023, a year-on-year growth of 21.41 per cent. India's largest carrier IndiGo shored up its domestic market share from 53.8 per cent in Q4 of FY22 to 55.7 per cent in Q4 of FY23, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data released on Monday.
Two-wheeler exports from India skid nearly 18% in FY23
Rediff.com14 Apr 2023Two-wheeler exports from India fell by 17.8 per cent to 3.65 million units in 2022-23 (FY23), according to data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam) on Thursday. This decline is due to a rise in global inflation and the weakening of economies and currencies in key export markets of Africa, Latin America (LatAm), and South Asia. In contrast to FY23, two-wheeler exports from India jumped 35.4 per cent to 4.44 million units in 2021-22 (FY22).
Mercedes-Benz's India sales jump 36% in FY23; female customer base doubles
Rediff.com12 Apr 2023Sales of Mercedes-Benz in the country have jumped by 36.67 per cent to 16,497 units in 2022-23 amid high demand for its top-end vehicles, according to its India MD & CEO Santosh Iyer. "This is the highest-ever sales recorded by the company in any financial year," he stated. In the luxury car segment of India, Mercedes-Benz is the market leader with about a 42 per cent share.